HELP!

[sammykate]

I'm the administrator... I have the correct password, and i'm being told it is an incorrect password and so can't log in. Because I'm the administrator I can't can't change the password, without entering the password which I'm being told is INCORRECT... when it is CORRECT! HELP PLEASE!

 

[Lorien]

Hi sammykate,

Welcome to Vista Forums!

First, try the following: Reset User Account Password. This often works.

If that doesn't work, I'm sorry to say, that the situation is not promising. I assume you do not have another Administrator account on the system that you can login to to change this one's password.

If the password really won't work and you're sure it's right, then the following almost certainly won't work either, but it's pretty much the only hope short of the drastic step that follows, so I'll suggest you follow the instructions in: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67567-administrator-account.html and see if you can somehow get it to enable and then login to that account (then all will be fine as you can fix everything from there).

If that doesn't work, and I'm fairly certain it won't, then the only option we are permitted to recommend is a clean install (or a return to factory conditions).

You can use Knoppix http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html with a good ISO copier like: http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm along with a blank CD. This should give you enough access to the system (if you can't get in any other way - but that shouldn't be required as you should be able to backup or at least copy the data using a normal account) to backup your important data. If that doesn’t work, try slaving the drive to another computer and recovering the data using that other computer to access the disk. You will lose all your programs and settings. Even if you can do an image backup, it will not help as the image will just restore you to the same conditions you started with.

Once done, you can do a clean install either using the genuine Windows Vista Installation Disk or the Recovery Disk or the Recovery Partition (whatever process is dictated by your computer manufacturer – you may need to contact them for the procedure and perhaps to get recovery disks). To do a clean install proceed as follows: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_install_03.asp (adapted as necessary by the procedures of your computer manufacturer). Then you will need to re-install all your programs, reset all your preferences, reconfigure your network and email settings, restore your backed up data, run Windows Update with possibly nearly 170 updates pending,...

I wish we could help more, but there are no other options using Vista and these are the only options we are allowed to offer concerning lost or forgotten passwords (which may not be the case here - it may have been some system flaw that caused it to change or perhaps you have a youngster or a young visitor with a nasty sense of humor (if so, be certain that isn't the cause before you re-install), but we are required to treat it the same way).

I hope this helps (though I suspect you'll need to do a clean install) - even if it's only to help you salvage your data (get everything you can - while most is in your user profile, some may be elsewhere like your e-mails (perhaps in Outlook rather than your user profile) and your word processor's custom dictionary, and anything else like that depending on what you have installed). Even if you back it up, do NOT restore your entire user profile but just the data - if you restore the entire profile, you are going to restore your user account information as well and you may end up back where you started (though you should have a different and new Administrator account and thus should be able to fix it but don't take that chance anyway and certainly don't do it if you restore it to that new Administrator account). And this time, make two or three other Administrator accounts ASAP (even if you never use the others) for emergencies like this.

Good luck!

 

[Dwarf]

Hi sammykate and welcome to Vista Forums

Double check to ensure that you are entering the password using the correct upper/lower case. Make sure that you are not accidentally catching the Caps Lock key instead of Shift. I've done that a number of times when logging into these Forums and no doubt will do so again in the future. It is only when I look at the keyboard and see the Caps Lock indicator lit that I realise what has happened.